A/N: I enjoyed this chapter and I hope you do too. This is probably not going to be the only update this week, depending on how things go for me. Thank you for the kind comments, they really really do help me get pumped to write. I love seeing people excited about my stories. I haven't written public fanfic in years so I forgot what it feels like! Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy~<3

               "Get UP." The voice that cut through the cold midnight air wasn't much to fear; it was shaky, but trained. It cracked when the demands grew louder, denoting that the owner was probably younger, and still going through puberty, but it was still strong, and had some power behind it. The light faltered for a moment as Dongsung slowly rose from his slumber and threw his legs off the side of the mattress, the owner of it backing up from the moving figure. The light's direction wavered about as the tall man slid off the bed and was met with a rusty sword to the chest. "Don't move. Who are you? Why are you here?" 

               Dongsung moved his hands up in the air to show he was no threat, then slowly started pushing the sword from his chest only to have the owner of it push it back, grazing him between his thumb and index finger. The blood was warm against his cold hand.

               "Answer me first."

               "We're just travelers." Sehyuk answered from his location still on the bed. The light shot around Dongsung to light up the other man, then was thrown back on Dongsung, as if looking for a confirmation from him as well.

               "Just travelers." He confirmed, nodding his head in agreement. "We've been looking for others for a couple of days."

               "Where are you from." 

               "I don't think they mean any harm." Another voice rose from the room, this one was slightly higher pitched, but still belonging to a young male, probably around the same age as the first. "They don't have anything on them, and they clearly haven't been here that long."

               "We came from The Building." Dongsung answered, despite the fact that the previous question probably did not need answering anymore. "We're Cinos students."

               The air around the parties grew silent for a moment, as the weight of the last detail settled over them. 

               "What do you want with us." The first voice said as the sword lowered from Dongsung's chest. "We don't have anything of value."

               "What do you mean?" Dongsung questioned.

               "You should just leave." Stated the second voice, "There are more profitable people out there."

               "We're escaped." Sehyuk informed the voice, and his words were met with an equal silence as the first. "We mean you no harm. Are there others? We want to help."       

               The two voices behind the light stayed silent.

               "Honestly, are there more of you? We never expected to find anyone this quickly. Are there families that survived? How many are out there?" Dongsung threw out questions one by one as he slowly approached the voice, reaching his hand out to grasp at what he assumed to be a flash light. Inches from the light, it swung to the ground, and Dongsung was again met with a sword against his chest again, only this time to be accompanied by a second one against his neck. He froze, feeling the cold metal rub against his Adam’s apple as he swallowed down sudden fear. The air felt as if it had stiffened, but he knew it was only him. He could practically feel the emotion pulsating off the cold steel. He had never experienced his abilities to such a degree before and part of it frightened him.               

               He could feel Sehyuk's warmth approaching him from behind, stopping to stand at his side. "What are you going to do with us."

               The two voices remained silent for a moment while they mulled things over, and the second voice spoke first. "We're going to take you back."
                "Back where?" Dongsung asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

               "Back." The first, stronger voice replied. The sword aimed at Dongsung's neck lowered, and the two listened as footsteps rattled around in the store, searching for something then finally returning with the prize. 

               "Dont try anything funny." The stronger voice spoke again, lowering the second sword from Dongsung's chest, and flipping off the flashlight. Immediately as the light shut off, both boys were met with hands on their shoulders, being forced to spin around. Seconds later, both Dongsung and Sehyuk had cloth tied to their faces, blinding them even more so than they already were in the dimly lit mall corridors. The two younger boys led them blindly through the halls of the mall for what seemed like hours. Sehyuk, who had tried to memorize the directions they had turned, had grown weary by the 20th change in direction and gave up, and Dongsung, who had resided himself to his place, just passed the time bothering the two younger leaders by whistling a catchy tune. Thirty real time minutes later (what felt like days for the blindfolded ones), Dongsung and Sehyuk were forced into chairs, tied down, and left cold and alone in a dark room, blindfolds untouched.

—

               It was unfortunate that Dongsung snored in his sleep. Unfortunate for Sehyuk, anyway. Mearly minutes after the two were forced into the dark room and onto the cold hard plastic chairs they were tied to, Sehyuk began to hear heavy periodic breathing from Dongsung's direction. It had been over an hour, and Sehyuk had gone through just about every scenario that could have happened back in the mall, and they all seemed to end here. At least the ones where he found Dongsung opening his big mouth. He sighed. He loved Dongsung, he truly did, he was a great friend, a strong friend, but in so many situations, he just seemed to cause trouble. Dongsung was loud, outspoken, and got a kick out of making things difficult for people. Sometimes he wished he had never befriended the boy back when he noticed him staring aimlessly out of the window when he was first brought into the building. But Sehyuk hadn't befriended many people himself, and anyway, Dongsung was the one who initiated conversation in the first place. There was no getting rid of him. Yet, Sehyuk found himself smiling, because one thing Dongsung never failed to do was get him to laugh, and perhaps there was no better friend to have in a seemingly hopeless environment than one who seemed to always have a smile on their face. 

               Dongsung had been snoring for around two hours or so when the door creaked open, and the light flickered on in the room, making it slightly easier for  Sehyuk to see past his blindfold. He remained silent as he watched a dark figure move toward him, and his blindfold was removed. Dongsung's snoring halted as well, as his own mask was removed as he came to. The boys blinked the light out of their eyes, dealing with the sudden fluorescent lighting of the small room after hours of sitting in the dark. In front of them stood a boy in age similar to theirs. He seemed to be around 17 or 18 years old. His face was kind, and he stood slightly taller than Sehyuk, but shorter than Dongsung. He smiled at them, revealing a row of slightly yellowed teeth, indicating to them that he had probably lived his whole life out here, but his smile was filled with genuine kindness which made both of the boys feel security in being around him. 

               "Hello." He said, his voice soft, but strong. He had clearly been in this situation before, and he was simply repeating a script he had rambled off dozens of times before. He wore a jumpsuit, but unlike the ones that Dongsung and Sehyuk had escaped in, his was made of denim and was torn and ragged. Holes in his knees were patched with various fabrics, and he had rolled his sleeves up halfway to reveal strong arms. His skin was tanned from the sun, his dark hair was cropped short and his bangs were swept across his forehead. In some ways, he looked very similar to Sehyuk, but his kind demeanor made his appearance look much more approachable. "My name is Sangdo. They said they found you in our mall and that you are both Cinos students is that correct?"

               The two nodded in agreement.

               "But, you want to help. They said you weren't aggressive. How did you cut yourself?" Sangdo's gaze wandered toward Dongsung's hang where he had grazed himself on the sword.

               "It was an accident."

               "I see."

               "How many others are here. It can't just be you and the other two..." 

               Sangdo smiled at Dongsung's curiosity, but didn't answer him immediately. "I shouldn't trust you because you're both from Cinos, and that could be dangerous for all of us. I just want to know why you're out here and why my friends thought they should bring you back."

               "We just want to help." Sehyuk finally spoke up, and Sangdo's gaze shot to him, expecting Dongsung to do most of the speaking from the way he had gotten things started. "We're Cinos but we escaped, we left. We didn't want to be trapped in there anymore. We don't know why you wouldn't trust us, we don't know what's going on."

               "Just let us up." Dongsung whined, and Sangdo's gaze fell back on him.

               "How long were you two in there?"

                "We're both eighteen. I was in there for thirteen years, Dongsung was in there for nine."

               Sangdo nodded, accepting the information, "And your name is?"

               "Sehyuk."

               "How long have you been out?

               "Just a few days... We've been walking non-stop for the most part, just trying to get our footing." Sehyuk elaborated, "We only just found the mall yesterday. We had figured it was abandoned despite the generators. I assume you all put those up?" Sangdo nodded in confirmation.

               "I didn't think it was abandoned." Dongsung mumbled, only to get a quick sideways glare from Sehyuk before he continued talking.

               "We've just been looking for anyone. For no particular reason but to meet someone out here. We were tired of being used..."

               Sangdo nodded again, and leaned himself back against the cold wooden paneled wall near the door. "I guess I don't have a reason to not trust you two," he started, pausing for a moment to think about his options, "but I can't let you go."

               "We want to stay anyway." Sehyuk insisted.

               "But, I can't let you stay in our community unmonitored." Sangdo continued, and the two tied up boys nodded in confirmation that they understood. Sangdo moved toward them, going to untie Sehyuk as he began to explain the situation he would put them in. "I'll allow you both to stay in our community, but I will assign you both... escorts or a sort. You'll be monitored until I otherwise determine that you are a safe asset to our community or not. Others have been through the same situation, so they will understand. It's somewhat normal protocol..." Sangdo moved to untie Dongsung as he continued to explain, "Sehyuk, I'll monitor you personally. You will be sleeping in my quarters with me and following me when I deem fit. Dongsung," He looked up to make eye contact with the one who had been unusually silent for the past few minutes, "you'll be with somewhat of my second-in-command. His name is Taeyang, he's the oldest here but only by a year."

               When Sangdo stepped back from their chairs, the boys rubbed their wrists easing the soreness the ropes had caused over the past few hours, and took in the information that their captor had given them. It didn't seem like an awful deal. They still had their freedom, right? Sehyuk was pleased that Sangdo had took him under his wing and thrown Dongsung to someone else. He enjoyed Sangdo, and felt that they really meshed well. Plus, he was kind, and he couldn't say with any certainty that anyone else in their community was as open minded as he was. On the other hand, Dongsung was excited about the idea of meeting the others. He hoped he would find a way to mesh with Taeyang, but he wasn't so worried that they wouldn't; he always seemed to have a way with people. 

               “So how many more of you are there, really?" Dongsung asked for the second time.

               Sangdo looked at Dongsung, his eyes smiling at his question this time, "There's about..." He went to count off on his fingers, "eight. Ten now including you two. You've met me, and I've told you that Taeyang is my second-in-command. The two youngest, Sangwon and Sanggyun, were the boys who brought you in earlier. They usually scout around for us the most. Then we have Byungjoo and Hansol, our resident medics. Byungjoo can fix most things and well, Hansol can help. Hyunho is our chef, and Yooncheol is more of a jack of all trades. You'll like it here, I'm almost sure of it. It's one big family..."